Royal Flush
by dxoverdt
Summary: Response to Evilevergreen’s drabble challenge. Jake learns that in the game of life, someone is always trying to manipulate their way to the top. Confidence is King. [some pairings]
1. Heart

Authors Note: So this little explanation is probably going to be longer than the drabble itself, but whatevers. The rules for Evilevergreen's drabble challenge go something like this: Each chapter is titled the theme of the drabble, the following chapter cannot star the same character from the previous chapter, each drabble must be 100-1000 words long, and the challenge must be completed within ten days of the starting date. Evilevergreen laid out 100 awesome themes to choose from, so I scrounged through and found amazing muses. Go here to see the challenge: www . fanfiction . net / fr / 628037 / 9939 / 1405303 / 1 / (take out the spaces).

For me, a drabble means 100 words exactly, not less than 100, not under 1000, but exactly 100 words. Therefore, these drabbles are going to be cryptic and dense and seemingly ambiguous, so if you get it you get it, and if you don't . . . well, read it again, or wait for the next one and then maybe they will all start to make sense. Since I'm nice, I'll give you all a little hint: the biggest clue for helping you figure these out is in one of the rules. Enjoy and happy reading! XD

000

**Heart**

He was laughing, no, cackling.

And the world turned grey.

Through diminished strength and heavy breaths, Jake fights to stand.

Destruction. Devastation. It spreads before him in a sea of defeated magical beings littered with pools of blood, broken limbs and shattered hopes.

He stands, indignant, and glares at his adversary, menacing cap blowing behind him.

"You _will_ be slain, dragon," The words drip from his mouth in a sinister rhapsody.

The creatures quiver in fear as they stare into the hollow mask that shadows his insidious countenance.

Jake dully wonders if his soul is as black as his heart.


	2. Honor

**Honor**

There are, he muses, two essential chisels for weakening joints of any group: animosity and attraction.

A disgruntled old man with little patience for his carefree student. Sibling rivalries and quests for acceptance.

A chosen dragon whom only wants to be a normal boy. Untold secrets that lead to frustrating misunderstandings.

A broken huntress and her star crossed lover. Jealous friends with unanswered crushes.

It wasn't hard to figure out.

So he pushes.

With their eyes turned blind they dance in step, choreographed to his whim.

And pushes.

For him, revenge is the only road back to honor.

And pushes.


	3. Spade

**Spade**

Gone. She was gone.

Like smoke fading from the wreckage of a terrible disaster.

And she _hated_ him. Despised him, loathed him, detested every fiber of his being. That's what she told him.

Her words stung him, like an invisible blade piercing through his soul.

He couldn't even find a glimmer of warmth in her cold, dark eyes. Rose was . . . no. There never was a Rose, only Thorn.

Uprooted. Torn away from his false sense of reality. The shroud of grief hangs over him, unyielding.

Jake turns to Trixie, and sees only she can share his pain.

000

Uh oh. O.o Here is where things turn south for Jake and friends. (queue dramatic music) To my lovely betas and muses: Thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying so far. To Evilevergreen: I like to hit the ground running and do nothing but accelerate. BTW, these drabbles are all thanks to your awesome keywords.


	4. Right

**Right**

He watches as a young dragon struggles to stand near the light.

Good will always prevail over evil, that's what they say. But _they_ never had to stand at a crossroads and decide between what is right and what is easy. And _they_ never had to face down true evil.

Insolent mortals. There's a reason why they should be exterminated.

But _him_. He fights for them, embraces them . . . loves them, but his struggles for humanity always end in tears. O how the mighty fall.

He ponders this, and laughs.

Justice . . . is a fool's dream.


	5. Diamond

**Diamond**

She never understood why she was so attracted to him. Maybe it was because he was so much like her.

"He gets me," she says to no one in particular one sunny afternoon.

"Who gets you?" a liquid cool voice spills from the shadows. Her eyes narrow.

"Please, you know who I'm talking about," her words are kissed with attitude.

"You sure on that?" His wings shuffle behind him as he emerges from the dark. They dance to the pattern of a rhombus: always sidestepping, never pushing forward.

Maybe it wasn't he who understood her, but she who understood him.


	6. Wrong

**Wrong**

Most were pawns, some were royalty, but ultimately, it was the ones who sacrificed themselves for the kings that always mattered.

Eliminating them was key.

The light was dim, the air, stifling, and tensions were high. They meet, like two ominous shadows dissolving into the darkness.

"The girl?"

"My pawn has been disposed of. And the boy?"

"Dealt with."

"Good. Now that the insolent brat is gone we can-" A sharp pain strips him of his words. His thoughts bleed onto the ground. "What? Why? We are partners!"

"You are mistaken, hunter," he smiles cruelly, "You were always my pawn."

000

Ok, this is day six, right? I kept getting an error message when I tried to log in last night to upload day five (shakes fist), so my apologies for the delay. So, it shouldn't be too hard to guess who is talking here, and hopefully now all the pieces are starting to fall into place. Only four more to go! XD


	7. Club

**Club**

Jake had a lot of friends, but he also had a lot of enemies.

" Forget Batman kid, you have the coolest rogues gallery ever: Dirty Baker's Dozen and then some, " Fu superfluously reminded him.

"Yeah, and it's like they all banded together to form an unholy alliance against me," Jake sighed. Things were turning from bad to worse. Not to mention his abundance of friends was starting to dwindle.

"Legion of Doom," the canine joked. At least someone found humor in the situation.

Worse to grim. Grim to unbearable. Jake wondered how long until the world would end.

000

Whoops! This was supposed to go up last night but . . . yeah. Got distracted. XD


	8. Rules

**Rules**

Order. There was order.

The universe ebbed and flowed as it should. Calculations could be made, derivatives could be taken and predictions would be absolute. The synergy of states could be documented and controlled. Invisible boundaries could be trespassed. Every action had a reaction, every cause had an effect and every problem had a solution. Blueprints were everywhere, but only the ones willing to look could see. Duplicity was hidden in everything. Inconceivable yet so simplistic. A cosmic inside joke that the world only revealed to him.

He could find her, easily.

But Jake never asked and Spud never offered.


End file.
